Russia unleashed a new barrage of missiles on Ukraine on Monday, killing two people, destroying homes in the southeast and causing major power outages, officials said.
Air raid sirens blared in the capital Kyiv and across the country in what officials described as the latest wave of Russian missile strikes since Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion.
The attack followed a spate of heavy Russian air strikes on energy facilities in recent weeks. Kyiv authorities had earlier told residents they would be able to stop imposing emergency blackouts after repair work following the previous attacks.
Netblocks, a London-based internet monitor, said that connectivity had plunged in multiple Ukrainian regions during the strikes.
Throngs of people packed into the Ukrainian capital’s vast underground metro to take shelter. Men, women and children sat gloomily wrapped up in warm hats, thick coats and wearing their hoods up. Temperatures hovered at around -5 degrees Celsius (23°Fahrenheit).
“Don’t ignore the alarm,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential staff, said as air raid alerts were issued across Ukraine.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office, said missiles had crashed into buildings in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, destroying several houses and killing two people. Three people were wounded, including a small child, he said.
Details on the impacts and the extent of damage were not immediately clear. Unconfirmed images circulated on social media showed smoke billowing up to the south of Kyiv in the vicinity of a power plant.
Water supply in Odesa region had been stopped as all pumping stations and reserve lines had lost power, the regional water company announced on Telegram.
The mayor of the southern city of Mykolaiv said power had been cut across the surrounding region because of the risk of a fire.
Russian forces have increasingly targeted Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks as they faced setbacks on the battlefield, causing major power outages as winter sets in.
Disruptions to electricity supply in neighbouring Moldova were reported by the Moldelectrica electricity company.
